Diverging sensemaking frames during the initial phases of the COVID-19 outbreak in Denmark
Open accessAbstract
The article draws on the Cynefin framework to illuminate how distinct sensemaking boundaries appeared to co-exist among the two main group of actors, health experts and political leaders, during the crucial early response phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in Denmark. The Danish government was in a chaotic sensemaking frame where major decisions needed to be made fast to avoid an impending disaster, and where scientific evidence was not pivotal to the decision-making process. The leading health authorities, on the other hand, appeared to be in a complicated sensemaking frame where evidence-based decision-making was still the modus operandum, and where policy recommendations were continuously reassessed in light of new scientific data. These two sensemaking frames clashed both publicly and internally, exposing a lack of understanding and communication across different sensemaking frames. Based on the analysis, we recommend two overarching initiatives to bridge contradictory sensemaking boundaries in times of major crises: (i) training in identifying and acknowledging different sensemaking frames; (ii) communication strategies that are sensitive to the sensemaking frames of other actors in the decision-making process.
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A proportional strategy is more likely to come about when decision-makers perceive that several solutions are available for the problem at hand, and that it is possible to gather the information necessary to design the optimal policy.
“a proportional strategy is more likely to come about when decision-makers perceive that several solutions are available for the problem at hand, and that it is possible to gather the information necessary to design the optimal policy for the given situation.”
From Precaution and proportionality in pandemic politics: democracy, state capacity, and COVID-19-related school closures around the world (2022) · cites this paper as Rubin and de Vries 2020
A precautionary strategy is more likely to come about when decision-makers perceive the situation as chaotic and turbulent.
“A precautionary strategy, by contrast, is more likely to come about when decision-makers perceive the situation as chaotic and turbulent.”
From Precaution and proportionality in pandemic politics: democracy, state capacity, and COVID-19-related school closures around the world (2022) · cites this paper as Rubin and de Vries 2020
Citizens generally expect politicians to step forward in a crisis situation and to do so promptly.
“research has suggested that citizens generally expect politicians to step forward in a crisis situation (e.g. Boin et al. 2008; Lazarev et al. 2014; Rubin 2020; Rubin and de Vries 2020) and to do so promptly (Butzek 2008).”
From Precaution and proportionality in pandemic politics: democracy, state capacity, and COVID-19-related school closures around the world (2022) · cites this paper as Rubin 2020
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- Authors
- Rubin, O., & de Vries, D. H.
- Affiliations
- Roskilde University (DK)
- Department of Anthropology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Corresponding author
- Rubin, Olivier
- Venue
- Policy Design and Practice
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2020-07-02
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 277-296
- ISSN
- 2574-1292 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3080623567
- Cited by
- 37
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 19.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Policy Design and Practice (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- RUCforsk (Roskilde University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Public Administration and Political Analysis
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Complex Systems and Decision Making
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Disaster Management and Resilience
- Keywords
- COVID-19 outbreak, Cynefin framework, health experts, political leaders, crisis decision-making, evidence-based policy, scientific evidence in policymaking, inter-organizational communication, Denmark, pandemic response
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